Of all the voguish Parisians that make up Ed Banger Records, Mehdi’s always stood out as the stray artist. Unlike the gnarled, grungy distortion of SebastiAn and Justice, Mehdi’s style can rarely be pigeonholed. Alot of SebastiAn and Justice tunes sound much the same. Mehdi’s originality fuses hip-hop, electro and a variety of old school sounds.
Ed Banger’s fall from grace has been down to a gradual decline in quality of productions. For example, take their annual compilation series. The digital-only release of Ed Rec Vol 1 was nothing less than a major milestone in a new breed of dance music – an exciting new type of tune clubbers could rock to and rockers could dance to (when watching Justice’s DJ sets, they emanate a certain cool – clad in their leather jackets and chain smoking – it’s easy to forget they’re not rock musicians). Vol 1 – showcasing the likes of Water of Nazareth, Pop The Glock and I Am Somebody – was electrifying stuff. Ed Rec Vol 2 was nothing groundbreaking, but still inventive, fresh and hugely fun (even So Me’s featured production was sheer brilliance). Ed Rec Vol 3 was, simply put, bland.
Now that they’ve truly reached Godly status, Ed Banger have slacked off a little. Gone is that in-your-face cutting-edge feeling; gone is the sense that something new and exciting is 
happening. But Mehdi calmly and quietly hung in the wings, consistently producing low-key yet unfaltering tunes. ‘I Am Somebody’ was a revelation (and still remains my favourite Chromeo track), ‘Lucky Boy’ possessed his trademark vintage charm and ‘Signatune‘ was deservedly loved and remixed by all. Mehdi’s 2006 album ‘Lucky Boy’ was a must-have. DJ Mehdi’s the Ed Banger musician who’s been producing for the longest, so his mature and consistent style has been honed through a long line of productions that go as far back as his 1996 material for his hip-hop group Ideal J.
Perhaps Ed Banger aren’t slacking off, and it’s the blogs’ fault for passing around tonnes of new samey stuff, so that Ed Banger merely pale in comparison to the new innovators. A combination of too many blogs and the use of production software like Ableton and Logic (meaning everyone can have a go at home) has flooded the turgid scene with tonnes of crappy throw-away productions and tonnes of actually very good productions, but more importantly… tonnes of Ed Banger copy-cats. And inevitably many of these new imitators are bettering Ed Banger – beating them at their own game. So Ed Banger just seem a bit old-hat.
But some people think Justice are certainly slacking off – there have been rumours abound for a while now that Justice’s DJ sets comprise merely of the duo pressing play on their turntables and letting a pre-recorded mix spin. And now there seems to be possible proof – a picture recently surfaced clearly showing Justice DJing without their Akai mpd24′s plugged in! And yet you can see Gaspard still fervently twidling away at the nobs… See the picture on the excellent Belgian Techno House Club Blog.
Pocket Piano was one of the few standout tunes of Ed Rec Vol 3. Uplifting piano chords push an epic, exultant momentum, interjected by floaty chiming and beating drums. I won’t post the original: buy it here.
The remixes are all standout. Chewy Chocolate Cookies’ remix featured in Pelski’s Playlist IV a couple of months back, and adds a little electro beef, but maintains the original’s melodic soul. Joakim’s is a typically masterful re-jigg, in which he weaves subtle electronica between the piano 
keys. Jittery cuts and distorted segments of the song swing about sporadically. Brodinski transforms the track into a pumping, thumpy monster of techy bass. It’s hard to decide a clear winner, but for sheer originality, Joakim receives the pelski seal of approval:
DJ Mehdi – Pocket Piano (Joakim Remix) [pelski highly recommends]
DJ Mehdi – Pocket Piano (Chewy Chocololate Cookies Remix)
